Grim aspect of Jan. 6: When police commit the crimes
At least 19 current or former officers have been charged
WASHINGTON – Off-duty police officer Thomas Robertson confronted officers defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Carrying a large wooden stick, he entered the historic building amid a mob of rioters.
Robertson, 49, of Ferrum, Virginia, was convicted last month of six charges, including felonies for obstructing Congress and interfering with law enforcement.
On Monday, Thomas Webster, 56, of Goshen, New York, a retired New York City police officer, was convicted of assaulting a District of Columbia police officer outside the Capitol. Webster was accused of swinging a flag pole at the officer and tackling him.
At least 19 current or former officers were charged in the insurrection, some with assaulting officers or witnessing attacks, according to a USA TODAY analysis of court records.
The FBI has warned for years that violent extremists could infiltrate police departments to gain intelligence and sabotage authorities.
At least six current or former officers have pleaded guilty to Jan. 6 charges, in addition to the convictions of Robertson and Webster at trial.
“Any time you see law enforcement violating the trust that’s been placed in them, it’s a concern and something that needs to be addressed and something that can’t be tolerated,” said Daniel Linskey, former Boston police chief and managing director at Kroll, a security management company.
“For a long time, we’ve seen extremism researchers talk about the concern that comes with infiltration, insider threats, of domestic violent extremists – white supremacists, anti-government extremists – into the ranks of law enforcement and the military,” said Jon Lewis, a research fellow at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism. “It’s just a matter of practicality that it is mutually exclusive to uphold the Constitution or engage in efforts to prevent the certification of an election.”
Police officers were forced to resign or were fired in nearly all the cases related to Jan. 6.
Maria Haberfeld, a professor of law and police science at John Jay College, said police departments typically have policies explicitly telling officers not to participate in political movements or demonstrations. After training New York police in ethics for more than 20 years, she was surprised officers participated in the riot.
In Virginia, the Rocky Mount Police Department fired Robertson and a fellow off-duty officer, Jacob Fracker, 30, of Rocky Mount, after they were arrested in January 2021. Fracker pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and cooperated with Robertson’s prosecution.
Others resigned. Mark Sami Ibrahim of Orange County, California, was an off-duty special agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration when he walked around outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to court records.
Ibrahim was photographed wearing his DEA badge and firearm and carrying a flag that said, “Liberty or death.” After Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot by police outside the House chamber, Ibrahim was within steps of her when medics loaded her into an ambulance, according to court records. Ibrahim pleaded not guilty to charges he entered the Capitol and carried a firearm on restricted grounds.
Chicago police officer Karol Chwiesiuk was charged with violent entry of the Capitol and making his way to the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. Chwiesiuk, who wore a sweatshirt with a Chicago police logo, left the building through a broken window, according to court records. He kept his job, assigned to desk duty, after he was arrested June 11. Chwiesiuk pleaded not guilty, and his trial has not been scheduled.
Policing the police
Law enforcement organizations monitor their officers for possible illegal activities such as cooperating with organized crime groups or drug cartels. Federal agencies and larger police departments routinely vet officers after they’re hired.
Linskey said officers were required to report if they were arrested. If they didn’t report an infraction, the cover-up could be as problematic as the behavior. “You always have to keep your own house in order,” Linskey said.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police declined to comment for this story, and the National Association of Chiefs of Police didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Some police departments disciplined officers for supporting or getting near the Capitol – but didn’t charge them.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s Transit Police Department investigated seven officers who traveled to Washington on Jan. 6 and found none was involved in storming the Capitol. After an internal affairs investigation and review by the Police Board of Inquiry, the agency suspended two sergeants for three days for social media posts that could be interpreted as supporting the rioters.
Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz fired two officers in August 2021 after fellow officers reported them near the Capitol during the riot, although they weren’t charged. Diaz said he ensured accountability for anyone who violated the community’s trust in law enforcement.
“The two officers were found to have crossed the outdoor barriers established by the Capitol Police and were directly next to the Capitol Building,” Diaz said in a statement. “It is beyond absurd to suggest that they did not know they were in an area where they should not be, amidst what was already a violent, criminal riot.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland told the Senate at his confirmation hearing that the investigation into the insurrection is the department’s top priority. He said the country faces a “more dangerous period” than the powder keg of domestic tensions that preceded the Oklahoma City bombing.
Colleagues report police
Several officers charged in the riot Jan. 6 were reported by fellow officers.
In Florida, Windermere Police Chief David Ogden said an officer voiced concerns that officer Kevin Tuck participated in the Capitol attack. Ogden said Tuck denied he had been inside the Capitol, and the initial FBI investigation relayed that Tuck wasn’t involved.
By July, the FBI told Ogden that Tuck was charged with obstructing Congress and entering a restricted building. Tuck, who pleaded not guilty, resigned. (Tuck’s son, Nathaniel, a former officer in the Apopka Police Department, was also charged.)
“It saddens all of us in the law enforcement community to see criminal charges brought forward of any misconduct involving a police officer,” Ogden said in a statement.
Tam Pham of Richmond, Texas, resigned as an 18-year Houston police officer after FBI agents interviewed him. He denied going to the Capitol, but investigators found pictures of him inside the Rotunda. He had walked through an office suite of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Federal prosecutors said Pham was familiar with the dangers of large and aggressive crowds. Pham helped keep the peace in uniform in Houston during a protest of 60,000 people June 2, 2020, in honor of George Floyd, who was murdered by police in Minneapolis.
“His decision to unlawfully enter a guarded government building is deeply troubling in light of his former service and training,” prosecutors said in a filing. Pham pleaded guilty in September to demonstrating in the Capitol. He was later sentenced to 45 days in jail, fined $1,000 and ordered to pay $500 restitution.
Michael Hardin of Kaysville, Utah, who retired after 20 years as a Salt Lake City police officer and homicide detective, was photographed standing next to a Lincoln bust in the Capitol, according to court records. “We stormed the Capitol,” Hardin said in a text message Jan. 6, according to court records. His daughter alerted authorities.
Hardin pleaded guilty to demonstrating in the Capitol and was sentenced April 11 to 18 months of probation and ordered to pay $500 restitution. Prosecutors had asked for a 45-day sentence because Hardin witnessed the mob enveloping and crushing police officers.
“His reaction to this violence was to cheer and holler, even though he was acutely aware, based on his decades of training and experience as a police officer, of the lifethreatening danger that USCP officers were in at that moment,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memo.
Hardin’s lawyer, Scott Williams, argued that Hardin’s public service shouldn’t be held against him.
“The elephant in the room of this sentencing is Mr. Hardin’s history as a police officer,” Williams said. “This history is double edged. The initial reaction may very well be to use it against him – to condemn him as someone who should clearly have known better, and who should have been particularly repelled by any acts of force against and/ or disrespect for law enforcement.”